Travel Blog - Firefly the Travel Guy

The Van Stadens Bridges

The Van Stadens River is about 35km west of Port Elizabeth and you can either go over or through it to get to the other side. The river and original pass was named after one of the area’s pioneer farmers, Marthinus van Staden, who was the first person to plot a basic route through the Van Stadens River Gorge in the 1850’s. In 1867 Thomas Bain was brought in by the Cape Government to rebuild the pass so that ox wagon traffic could…

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15/06/2020

Port Elizabeth Daily Photo

Port Elizabeth has some blooming good hikes

Flowers along the Sacramento Trail between Schoenmakerskop and Sardinia Bay It seems that it doesn't matter where and what time of year you go for a hike along one of the trails around Port Elizabeth, there is always plants flowering. It's one of the great things of especially fynbos which is found along a lot of the coastal trails around here. Something is always blooming, doesn't matter the season. With level 3 lock down allowing hiking, there's really no excuse…

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10/06/2020

Port Elizabeth Daily Photo

Fun on the Maitland dune

There is nothing more fun for a kid, and I say kid liberally as some of us adults are still kids at heart as well, than to go and climb the Maitland sand dune on a Sunday morning. Even better, take an old boogie board or carton box along and go and slide down the dune. And if you don't have one of those, just run full tilt and jump.

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08/06/2020

Firefly the Travel Guy

Grahamstown’s Bible Monument

Depicting an open bible, the monument faces the direction the Voortrekkers departed in Grahamstown has some very well known monuments and historic buildings. The 1820 Settlers Monument on the hill, the Cathedral of St Michael and St George, the Angel Statue, Observatory Museum with it's camera obscura and many more. One I didn't know about was the Bible Monument on the outskirts of town and I would never have known of it if it wasn't that I went in search…

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05/06/2020

Port Elizabeth Daily Photo

My name is Firefly and I like long walks on the beach

Maitland Beach stretching off toward Blue Horizon Bay One of the things I missed most under lock down is going for a walk, and with that I don't mean taking the dogs for a walk around the block. With restrictions lifting a bit and being allowed to go for a hike again, I'm keen to get into one of the nature reserves around PE and to hit a trail. What I miss most though is a long walk on the…

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04/06/2020

Port Elizabeth Daily Photo

Van Stadens bird hide

Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve's bird hide The 600 ha Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve is located about 35km west of Port Elizabeth. The reserve stretches from the Van Stadens mountain to the coast and its main purpose is to protect the area's unique indigenous Fynbos vegetation. It's always worth popping into the reserve because there's always some type of protea in bloom. But Van Stadens isn't just about vegetation and views of the Van Stadens gorge, it also boasts a birding…

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03/06/2020

Firefly the Travel Guy

I’m back… after a hiatus of 2 years

A magnificent King Protea in the Van Stadens Wildflower Reserve It's been two years since I've stopped blogging. What I initially intended to be a three week break was extended to two months and then became an indefinite postponement. My mojo was gone. In fact I didn't even take photos anymore. My camera gathered dust and my writing skills became rusty. The last two years have been funny actually. I started losing concentration, thought I developed ADD and frankly, also…

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02/06/2020

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Fire in the sunset

Last night's sunset was something else. Wow, literally fire in the sky. Unfortunately, I was kept busy with visitors leaving and only got to grab my phone for a pic just before it was too late. Still striking!

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18/06/2018

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Sunrise over Algoa Bay

I'm still here. I may not have posted anything on my blog for a month but I'm still around. It's scary though how busy my life has become between work, family, sport (the kids', not my own) and everything else I'm involved in. The two things that have suffered the most are my blog and exercising. And to a lesser extend Geocaching. Plus my laptop at home has packed up again. You know how it is. When it rains it…

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01/06/2018

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A walk on the beach

We haven't taken the dogs for a walk on the beach in ages so this morning we gathered up the kids and the sausages and headed down to Pollok Beack. We weren't the only ones who were enjoying the beautiful autumn weather we've been having lately. I left my camera at home wanting to spend time with the family, but ones there I kinda wish I had it. Snapped this pic with my phone but need to make a plan…

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01/05/2018